Some attention is being given to this map of the hurricane zone, which uses Google Maps and citizen reporting to display conditions of specific houses and neighborhoods. It's a great use of the Google Maps API, which I've been urging news organizations to take advantage of.
This technique could be extremely valuable for news websites as the Katrina disaster continues to unfold. For example, it's estimated that in the city of New Orleans thousands of people died in the floodwaters. As information about bodies found at specific locations becomes available, that could be included in this sort of interactive map.
As victims are identified, they could be added to the map according to their home addresses, linked to photographs and biographies (and even guestbooks for friends and relatives to share their memories, a la Legacy.com). Built out, you could end up with an interactive memorial to those who died in New Orleans -- a combination of professional journalism and citizen reporting. Viewing such a map-memorial by neighborhood, this would be an important and compelling service for survivors.
If any news organizations are working on or contemplating such a project, please let me know.
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